At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of the resurrection. But Thomas was not there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not believe. A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, and Thomas was present; Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28).The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: "by his wounds you have been healed" (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and anindescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers, in Jerusalem, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican Council set before us. Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church. In convening the Council, Saint John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church; he was the pope of openness to the Holy Spirit.In his own service to the People of God, Saint John Paul II was the pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.

Millions of Catholics around the world are bracing for a once-in-a-lifetime experience this Sunday – four popes, two of them in the flesh, in one historic, ceremony: the double canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II.After some speculation, retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend the event, according to Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of the Vatican-related pilgrim agency, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, as quoted by theNational Catholic Reporter."Never before have there been two popes canonized and two popes living," he said at a news conference Wednesday in Rome. "You can imagine their emotions," he told the NCR online, referring to Popes Francis and Benedict.The last time Benedict XVI was seen in public was February 22 of this year, when the Pope Emeritus attended a consistory at which Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Benedict’s presence at the ceremony marked the first time he had joined Pope Francis for a public liturgy.Benedict, 87, made history on February 28, 2013, when he became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign in order to live the final stage of his life as "simply a pilgrim."The double canonization is expected to be followed by millions through television, Internet and social media.According to Italy’s Ministry of Interior, 19 heads of state, 24 ministers and 23 high officials have confirmed their attendance to the ceremony at St. Peter’s Square, among them the king and queen of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski , and French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls. Representatives and delegations from Latin America include presidents Rafael Correa, from Ecuador, and Juan Orlando Hernández, from Honduras.Nineteen giant screens are being installed throughout Vatican City and St. Peter’s Square, as well as in several key locations in the historic district, including the Roman Coliseum and the Piazza del Popolo. The ceremony will be translated into several languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French, both live and on television.Francis announced back in July that he would canonize the two popes together, after approving a second miracle to John Paul II, who led the church from 1978-2005.The first reported miracle credited to John Paul II occurred in 2005, when a French nun recovered from Parkinson's disease after her order prayed on her behalf and she wrote down the Polish pope's name on a piece of paper.A second certified miracle occurred in May 2011, on the day of the pope's beatification, when he allegedly cured a Costa Rican woman with an inoperable brain aneurysm. John Paul II is set to be the fastest canonizing in modern history, beating out Josemaria Escriva, the Spanish priest who founded Opus Dei and was canonized 27 years after his death.Pope John XXIII, on the other hand, died in 1963 and had to wait 51 years for his sainthood.http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2014/04/25/catholics-around-world-get-set-for-day-four-popes/print

Author

Fr. Neil Buchlein, Pastor St. Mary Queen of Heaven Madison, WV

St. Joseph the WorkerWhitesville, WV

The world is like a river of which we drinkbut our sins pollute the waterAnd now the river is flooded so we must buildand ark of faith and trust in divine providenceI was in a room of darkness it wasn'tenough to open the window for airI had to unlock the door so I searched forthe key and what I found wasOur Lady of Medugorje saying to:

Me and my brothers and sisters we were strugglingbetween heaven and hellWe found it hard to understand how we gotsunk into a spiral of negative and demonic spellsSo we went on a pilgrimage searching for healingat the heavenly wellsWe came across a wise man telling us children it's verysimple, conversion, mass the sacraments and

Chorus

Oh we've got to pray, pray pray pray,pray pray pray for a happier day

Need a childlike faith to enter into heaven'til the harvesters come don't be afraid

We all have our crosses to carry if we carrythem humbly there's no need to worryIf we forgive we'll be forgiven then ourpurified hearts will feel thepresence of God's eternal love burn insideI ain't no religious expert but I don't have tobe to know that God ain't illusionI'm testifying what I witness 'cause a faithwithout acts is a dead faith that's whyI wrote this song so we can

Chorus

Oh we've got to pray, pray pray pray,pray pray pray for a happier day

Pray pray pray for a happier dayGot to pray for a better dayPray pray pray for a happier dayGot to pray for a better dayPray pray pray for a happier dayGot to pray for a better dayPray pray pray for a happier dayGot to pray for a better dayPray pray pray for a happier day

Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence,let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change.Pope Francis

"God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have a mission; I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons; He has not created me for naught. I shall do good—I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace while not intending it if I do but keep his commandments. Therefore, I will trust him." Blessed John Cardinal Newmann

ObamaCare violates our religious liberty; Planned Parenthood takes our taxpayer dollars for its abortion business; and atheists are removing Christianity from America. Get your armour on for this satanic battle is here in our backyard.

Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth through me. Fill me with Your life and Your grace, that my soul may be sanctified. Increase in me the gift of holy wisdom, that I may use wisely the gifts You have given me. Increase in me the gift of understanding, that I may hear and respond to Your call. Increase in me the gift of Your good counsel, that I may always follow God's will. Increase in me the gift of knowledge, that I may grow in holiness by knowing God and myself more fully. Increase in me the gift of love, that I may serve as Christ's hands and feet and voice sharing Your love with everyone I meet today. Come, Holy Spirit! Renew the face of the earth through me! Amen.

Consecrate Yourself to MaryUsing the Consecration Prayerof St. Louis-Marie de Montfort

I, (Name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose you this day for my Mother and Queen. I deliver and consecrate to you, as your slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to you the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.

Our Lady of All NationsLord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father,Send now Your Spirit over the world;Let the Holy Spirit live in the Hearts of All Nations,That they may be preserved from degeneration, disaster, and war;May the Lady of All Nations, the Blessed Virgin Mary,Be our Advocate. AmenSeptember 20, 1951Bury me on my head for one day this world will be upside down." (Diogenes)

PRAYER FOR PRIESTSO Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of your sacred heart, where none may touch them.Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch your sacred body.Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your precious blood.Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of your priesthood.Let your holy love surround them, and shield them from the world’s contagion.Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here on earth, and in heaven, their everlasting crown.Mary, Mother of Priests, pray for priests and vocations to the priesthood.– St. Therese of LisieuxQuote to live by:"Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God: God alone is sufficient."- St. Teresa of Avila "Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil, cannot rejoice with Christ." -St. Peter ChrysologusPrayer for Priests

O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church:grant it love and the light of Your Spirit,and give power to the words of priestsso that hardened hearts might be brought to repentanceand return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy priests;You Yourself maintain them in holiness.O divine an Great High Priest,may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhereand protect them from the devil's traps and snareswhich are continually being set for the souls for priests.May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naughtall that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,for You can do all things.AMEN.